


Disarmed

by Tarlan



Category: Eureka
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fandom Stocking 2014, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-08
Updated: 2015-01-08
Packaged: 2018-03-01 02:32:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2756282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fargo has ended up in another parallel universe, and finds this universe is even better than the last one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Disarmed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Vexed_Wench](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vexed_Wench/gifts).



> Written for Vexed_wench for Fandom Stocking 2014

Douglas Fargo knew he shouldn't have touched that button... but it was so shiny. Unfortunately, or perhaps that was fortunately, no one had been around at the time and he loved this new alternate time line far better than any of the old ones, even though he'd only been here a week. He was no longer the screw-up assistant of the original time stream, or had the total responsibility of Global Dynamics lying on his shoulders as in the previous one.

In this time line Henry was the Director, but rather than having just taken over the job at Trevor Grant's request, Henry had been the Head of Global for several years. There was more. Doctor Stark was still alive and happily re-married to Allison Blake, with another baby on the way. The time looping incident had happened but the seal had held, so no one had been forced to sacrifice themselves to reset time manually. All his friends were still here too. Taggart was their cryptozoologist and veterinary expert, Zane was Head of the Consumer Lab - Section Four, Jo was Head of Global's Security, Vince was still running Cafe Diem, Spencer had an off-site lab... and Seth was on the other side of the planet.

Overall, things couldn't get any better.

Only two things stopped this time line from being perfect. First, his arch enemy Isaac Parrish was married to Holly, though admittedly that didn't smart quite as much as he'd expected. Second, Larry was Henry's assistant, and Douglas missed being in the middle of everything.

Technically, that was three things, but he shrugged and smiled brightly. He hummed the Buffy theme tune under his breath as he went through his messages, deciding on the fate of the researchers within his own small kingdom inside Global - Section Three. He scoffed at one of the requests for more lab space from a researcher who seemed to border on useless in every time stream, replying with a single word - NO.

It took him another week to figure out why he missed being in the center of all of Global's problems, and it had nothing to do with the adrenaline rush, or being at the cutting edge of science and technology.

He had a man-crush on Sheriff Jack Carter.

It came as a shock when he thought back on all their interactions and discovered he'd had this crush from the moment Carter showed up in town and put the obnoxious Warren King in his place.

Certainly it explained why he had offered up SARAH to Carter that first night, conveniently forgetting that three new - normal - houses would be available within a few more days. He'd been right though. Jack had taken to the bunker quickly and SARAH had loved Jack in return. Jack had turned out to be exactly what she had needed to expand her A.I. programming, someone normal to interact with on a daily basis, and though he hadn't realized it until now, it had given Doug an excuse to remain closer to Jack.

Intellectually, despite being average in intelligence, Jack had an uncanny ability to handle people, and a mysterious way of connecting the dots when things went wrong.

Physically, Jack was tall, handsome, with blond hair and blue eyes - the wholesome, all-American look - and he had the body of someone who didn't need a gym to stay fit. Doug had seen him naked, recalling various decon showers and the avatar prepared for the bio-sphere, and creepy though it sounded even to his own ears, he had liked to watch Jack sleep before Jack insisted he turned off SARAH's bedroom cameras. 

It was little wonder Doug was crushing on him. Yet, as he contemplated this Epiphany, he realized it was more than a crush, bordering on stalker'ish. He winced because he was sure that wasn't a real word. It just seemed to fit with thoughts of Jack Carter.

He grabbed the only remaining booth in the busy cafe, glaring at anyone who tempted to 'share' with him; a skill he'd gained after becoming Director in the previous time stream. Minutes later, he saw Jack enter, tired blue eyes sweeping across the early evening dinner crowd with a resigned sigh, and Doug was just close enough to hear Jack say, "You better make that to go."

They hadn't exactly been the best of friends in any of the time streams. In the original one Carter had seen him as a screw up, always pressing the wrong button - admittedly, that hadn't changed much - and in the second he had replaced Stark as the bane of Carter's existence due to their clashing roles as Director and Sheriff. But perhaps those years as Director had given Doug more than just an ability to glare like Stark, because he deliberately caught Jack's eye and nodded towards the seat opposite in his empty booth.

 _Third time's the charm?_ he thought.

Jack's eyebrows rose a fraction in surprise before lowering in intrigue. Doug saw the broad shoulders rise slightly in a shrug before Jack gave Vince a meaningful look and headed over, threading his way through the tables to where Doug waited. He could feel his heart rate increasing with every step Jack took towards him. It was a familiar sensation of butterflies in his stomach he had always put down to feeling guilty around Eureka's Law Enforcement officer, but now he knew that wasn't the whole reason. His eyes flicked back to the counter to see if anyone had noticed his reaction, and he caught sight of Vince whispering behind his hand to Taggart, eyes bright and excited as he cast looks towards Doug's booth.

Vince knew. They both knew.

On reflection, it certainly explained Vince's indulgent smiles and Taggart's winks whenever Doug was within five feet of Jack in all of the time lines. Perhaps the only person who hadn't noticed his crush - other than himself - was Jack.

Jack, who was sitting down opposite him now with that same cute, half-smile playing about his lips.

"You got a problem, Fargo?"

He froze. _How would Stark handle this?_ Then he thought, _Forget Stark_. He'd had his chance and had chosen Doctor Blake. Doug had two years of holding his own against the Sheriff as head of Global, and he'd won over Holly in the previous time stream. He could do this.

"Yes." He winced. So much for the internal pep talk.

"O...kay. Can it wait until after I've eaten?" Jack gave him a disarming, devastating smile that made Doug go a little weak at the knees. Thankfully he was sitting down.

"Uh. Yes." All his previous conviction went straight out of his head and, at a loss for conversation, he began to ramble on about Buffy, only to halt in shock when Jack joined in. "You've seen _Buffy The Vampire Slayer_?"

"I have a teenage daughter," he replied as if that explained everything, which it did strangely enough.

Vince chose that moment to place their orders on the table. He felt the heat rise in his cheeks at Vincent's knowing smile.

"Bon appetite, gentlemen." Vincent left before either of them could respond, and the silence stretched until Doug filled it.

"Buffy or Faith?" he asked.

Jack narrowed his eyes and swallowed his first mouthful of something that wasn't a cheeseburger and fries for once. He thought Jack only ever ordered the same meal, making this the weirdest difference he'd noticed in this time stream so far.

"Buffy," Jack answered.

"Uh... Angel or Spike?"

"Angel was hot."

"Hot?"

Jack tensed. "You have a problem with me liking guys, Fargo?"

"Uh. No. I just thought... Uh... Married? Teenage daughter? Crush on Allison Blake?"

Both eyebrows went straight up at the last, a forkful of Vincent's special lasagna poised halfway to his mouth. "Allison?"

"Yes." Doug smiled uneasily.

"Boy did you read that wrong," Jack murmured and Doug got it. Jack _liked guys_ in this time stream, or perhaps he did in all the time streams but had only acknowledged it in this one. His crush had been on Stark, who was too straight and too besotted with Allison to even notice.

"I'm... not-completely-straight," Doug said in a rush and tried to smile, hoping he didn't look too desperate.

Confusion again as Jack tilted his head, eyes widening when he finally worked it out.

"Are you hitting on me?" Doug's smile tightened. "You know I'm a little old for you."

"Nine years."

"Huh?"

"Nine years older."

"Really?" Jack waved a hand towards Doug. "You look... younger."

"Good genes?"

"Huh. Nine years." He frowned. "That's still-."

"Angel was two hundred years older than Buffy."

"Yeah... That's a TV show, Fargo."

"Doug."

"O...kay. This is getting weird." Jack narrowed his now concerned eyes and leaned right across the table, studying Doug intently. "Have you been eating anything unusual recently? Or pressing any buttons?" Doug must have made some tell-tale sign because Jack's eyes became laser focused on him. "What did you do?"

"I'm always pressing buttons. They shouldn't make them so tempting."

Jack relaxed with a grin that erased all of those extra nine years off his handsome face, but before he could sit back Doug seized the moment - and Jack - and kissed him. Shock kept his mouth covering Jack's, stunned by his own actions, but there was the slightest returned pressure before Jack pulled back. Reluctantly, if Doug was reading him correctly. Jack licked his lips slowly, looking flustered and bemused, and beautiful.

"Nine years," he repeated softly, but Doug could tell Jack was no longer convinced the age difference was such a big problem. Or at least his body was no longer against the idea, judging by the way his pupils had dilated to leave just a tiny ring of blue around the black. His cheeks were flushed with arousal, and he was definitely trying to adjust now uncomfortably tight pants.

***

Years later Doug would look back on that start to their life together with a boyish grin, and remind Jack how he had disarmed the big, tough sheriff... with a kiss.

END  
.


End file.
